Love And Destiny
by Nelxis
Summary: Sometimes destiny can be the most annoying thing in the world. Merlin knows that very well. No slash. Full summary inside.
1. Old Friends

**Love And Destiny  
**

**Summary:** Sometimes destiny can be the most annoying thing in the world. Merlin knows that very well. As Arthur leaves for a visit to a nearby kingdom, Merlin meets an old friend. Can he help his friend, or does Gwaine ruin everything?

**A/N: **So this is written by me and my friend. Only the last two chapters are written by me only. I know the first chapter is a bit short, but the others are little longer. I hope you enjoy and review!

**Chapter 1: Old Friends  
**

The morning sun was shining between the branches to the carpet of leaves that had just been revealed by the melting snow. The party of Camelot was on its way to a nearby kingdom. King Arthur Pendragon didn't seem very peaceful.

"Come on, Merlin!" he shouted at his servant, who was trying to get his horse to obey him.

"What is wrong with him? He seems more strained than usual," Merlin whispered to Sir Leon after he had finally caught up with the others.

"Lady Vivian," the knight answered lowly. Merlin didn't need any more explanation. He remembered the last meeting with the princess very well. Arthur and Vivian had been under an enchantment, and even though Merlin had managed to free Arthur with Gwen's help, Vivian was still under the enchantment.

After the long journey, the party saw a castle surrounded by a bustling city.

They drew a lot of attention in the city while passing through it to the castle. Soon, the courtyard of the citadel was filled with people marvelling the people from the great and renowned kingdom of Camelot.

A pretty blond woman gracefully descended down the steps. Her eyes widened with joy when she saw who was arriving at her kingdom.

"Lady Vivian," Arthur nodded stiffly when he saw her overly-excited face.

"Arthur Pendragon, my love!" Vivian squealed, rushing down the steps to hug him. She would've probably kissed him if Arthur didn't have the time to avoid.

"Lady Vivian, this is my wife, Queen Guinevere," Arthur introduced proudly. Vivian's facial expression changed at that very moment. She didn't care about the queen's polite greeting, but stared at her with swelling suspicion. She thought that Arthur must've gone mad. That woman had been her maid just few years ago while she had been visiting Camelot!

"Please come inside! The _servants_ will take care of your belongings," she said, with emphasis on the word servants.

A little further away, Sir Gwaine tried to hear at least little bits of the conversation.

"Is that the famous Lady Vivian?" he asked Sir Percival. The man just shrugged his shoulders; he hadn't seen her before either.

"She doesn't seem as bad as I had imagined. Why did Arthur abhor her again?" Gwaine questioned as he tried to get a better look of Lady Vivian.

"I think Vivian is obsessed with him. Or that's what I heard," Percival answered, suppressing a grin.

"She won't be for long," Gwaine announced.

Percival hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

The castle was amazing from the inside. The walls were decorated with paintings, which proudly displayed, among other things, Lady Vivian's father, who had tried to kill Arthur during their last meeting.

The knights and the others were escorted to their rooms. Grudgingly, Lady Vivian let Arthur and Gwen have chambers next to each other.

Unfortunately, Merlin didn't get a room like all the others, so he had to sleep at an inn.

xxx

Arthur and, although Vivian didn't like the idea, Gwen had been invited to have dinner with Lady Vivian and her brother, Edward, who had been hunting previously.

Meanwhile, Arthur was stuck with a very awkward dinner. Merlin was walking towards Arthur's chambers. He walked in without knocking, and noticed a young maid cleaning inside.

"I'm sorry, I can go away if I'm disturbing you," Merlin said. The girl froze as she heard his voice.

"Merlin?" she asked and turned around. Merlin stared at her in shock.


	2. Questions

**I forgot to put disclaimer to the previous chapter: We own nothing.  
**

**A/N: **Here's chapter two! I hope you enjoy. :)

**Chapter 2: Questions**

_Freya_, he thought. Neither of them said anything. They just stared at each other in awe.

"Freya," Merlin whispered. Freya smiled carefully.

"How did you..." The words got stuck in Merlin's throat.

"I don't have time to explain right now, but come to the stables later," Freya asked, and hurried out of the room, leaving confused Merlin behind.

xxx

_Here she comes_, Gwaine thought as Lady Vivian stepped out of the dining room, looking very morose. _This is my chance._

"A pretty girl like you should be much happier," Gwaine said and tried to smile as charmingly as possible, but Vivian just looked at him strangely. She kept walking, without acknowledging the knight.

Now it was Gwaine's turn to look at Vivian strangely._ I wonder why she's in such a bad mood, _he thought as Vivian continued walking._ I'm not so easy to get rid of_. Gwaine started to follow the princess. Just as Vivian was opening the door to her chambers, Gwaine jumped in front of it, scaring the princess. She looked at the man, shocked by his obscenity, and then snapped:

"I don't know who you are, and to be honest, I don't even want to know. So leave me alone or I'll call the guards."

Gwaine didn't move an inch.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Vivian demanded angrily.

"I did, but I just love listening to your voice, Lady Vivian," he answered and flashed brilliantly white teeth. Vivian looked at the man from head to toe.

"How can I make you leave me alone?" she asked with a little more calm tone.

"You could tell me why you are in such a bad mood," Gwaine answered, and stared straight into her eyes. She thought a moment before answering:

"If that makes you leave me alone, then I might as well just tell. Arthur Pendragon. Will you now leave me?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You didn't ask anything. It was just a suggestion," Vivian said and pushed Gwaine out of her way.

"Well in that case: What has Arthur done to get you in a bad mood?" Gwaine asked and stepped in front of the door again, so that Vivian could not close it. They both knew that it was going to be a long night.

xxx

The stable door squeaked loudly when Merlin stepped inside.

"Freya," he whispered. He didn't hear an answer. "Freya," Merlin hissed a little louder. He could only hear the buzz of the flies in the darkness.

"Hi, Merlin," said a voice from the door. The warlock turned around and saw Freya standing behind him, looking more beautiful than ever.

"I have so many questions," Merlin sighed and took Freya's hand in his.

"And I have so much to tell," she said and put her hand on top of his. "I never fully died. After you took me to the lake, part of my soul wandered to the surface of the lake during the night, the time that I was supposed to turn into the horrible beast," Freya started her story. "One night, I saw a dragon landing on the shore, the same one you arrived with when you came to get the sword from the lake. He saw me and asked me to come and talk to him. We made a deal," she continued.

"What deal?" Merlin asked with anxiety.

"I was just getting to that. He said that he could free me, but I lost my powers. He said that I could get them back after Lady Vivian was free from some enchantment."

"So that's why you're here? Trying to get rid of the enchantment?" Merlin asked.

"No. Vivian found me in a nearby forest after I was free. She demanded to come here as a servant and I said yes. I thought I would never see you again." Both of them smiled.

"You said you'd get your powers back when Vivian is free from the enchantment," Merlin said.

"Yes, but I don't know how to get rid of it or what spell caused it. She doesn't even look enchanted to me."

"I know. Arthur was also under the same spell, but that was few years ago. They thought they loved each other and Arthur almost died because of it. You need a kiss of true love to break the enchantment."

"And how do we get one? If I know Vivian at all, she won't kiss _anyone_," Freya said.

"Well, that might be a problem," Merlin laughed.


	3. Answers

**Love And Destiny  
**

**A/N: **Here's chapter 3! I hope you'll tell me what you think. Oh, and we still don't own anything.

**Chapter 3: Answers**

Later that night, Merlin sneaked to a nearby forest. After he arrived to a large clearing, which was surrounded by nothing but darkness, he yelled:

"**Cymst cypera nædre** **ic** **þing ðu!**"

For a while he could hear nothing but the trees humming in the evening breeze, but then, a moment later, a large dragon dropped from the clouds. There was a big thump as its big feet hit the ground.

"You called for me, young warlock."

"What were you thinking? What does Freya have to do with Lady Vivian?" Merlin demanded forcefully.

"That is not your concern. It is her destiny, just like it is your destiny to protect Arthur," Kilgarrah said.

Merlin looked at the dragon. _That damn destiny again!_

"Why can't you just this once say things straight?" The dragon just looked at the young warlock, an expression of amusement on his wise face.

"Was that everything you had to say?" he asked.

Merlin nodded. _That's all._

xxx

After arriving at the inn, he saw something he didn't expect to see. All of the knights of Camelot who had come with them were drinking beer or arm wrestling. And, clearly, none of them were sober.

"What are you doing here?" Merlin asked of Sir Elyan, who seemed to be the least drunk.

"What does it look like?" he answered.

"This was Gwaine's idea, wasn't it?" Merlin asked and quickly looked at Gwaine, who was drinking a pint of beer, which seemed to be at least his fourth.

"Of course. He said something about Lady Vivian and then marched down here like he meant business," Elyan said. Merlin hurried to Gwaine, who was wobbling on his chair.

"Look who's there! Isn't it Merlin," Gwaine slurred gracelessly, a grin of unrestrained bliss plastered on his face.

"I heard you were talking about Lady Vivian," Merlin said.

"Oh yes. That woman can be really tricky," Gwaine said.

"Oh no. What have you done?"

"I was just talking to Lady Vivian, but she ignored me right away," Gwaine said. Merlin knew that Vivian had to kiss her true love, so that Freya would get her powers back, and Gwaine was not allowed to come and mix things up.

"Lady Vivian isn't the nicest person in the world. If I were you, I would stay away from her," Merlin cautioned, but Gwaine wasn't listening. Merlin just shook his head and went up to his room.

xxx

In the morning, Gwaine went outside the citadel and wandered around the courtyard, trying to come up with something productive to do. Suddenly, he woke up from his thoughts as the castle doors opened, and Lady Vivian and a lot of courtiers came out. Gwaine walked to Vivian, who looked at him with very unpleased face.

"You. What do you want this time?" she said.

"Where is everyone going?" Gwaine asked pleasantly.

"How can you not know? Today is the tournament." Vivian looked at Gwaine indignantly, because she had just realized that she had wasted few seconds of her precious time. As the princess left, Gwaine just stood there.

_How on earth could I forget?_ he thought.

xxx

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled at the sleeping servant. No response. "Merlin!" he roared even louder, when Merlin just rolled over in his sleep. Arthur looked around, grabbed a water pitcher and poured its content on Merlin's face. The servant gasped awake.

"You just never get bored to that," Merlin muttered after he had survived the shock.

"Get up. You are really late," Arthur said angrily. Merlin tried to open his eyes properly.

"I might've slept too late," he said sleepily, stretching.

"You don't say?" Arthur said sarcastically as he walked out of the room.


	4. Arguing

**Love And Destiny  
**

**A/N:** **  
**Here's Chapter 4! I hope you like it. :)

**Chapter 4: Arguing**

The stand began to get full. Lady Vivian was sitting at the box meant for royalties next to her brother, Edward.

One knight after another fell from their horses. Vivian wasn't really paying attention to the tournament. Only when it was Arthur's turn did she stand up to clap.

Gwaine guided his horse to the track and gave Vivian one last look before putting on his helmet.

_Let's see what you can do_, Vivian thought.

Gwaine did quite well, to Vivian's surprise. She still didn't forget that she thought Gwaine was irritating.

xxx

After the tournament, Lady Vivian walked into her brother's room, without bothering to knock.

"How many times have we talked about knocking?" Edward asked without turning to his sister. Vivian walked towards her brother.

"What is it?" he sighed as he saw Vivian's weird face.

"Nothing," the princess answered sullenly. Edward looked at her with suspicion before he asked:

"What did you think of the tournament?" Vivian shrugged her shoulders and muttered something as an answer. _Something must be wrong if she's quiet_, Edward thought.

"Did you see anyone interesting? Other than Arthur?" he asked.

"Should've I seen someone?" Vivian asked with her usual sharp tone.

"I wouldn't mind if you did," Edward said. Vivian said strictly:

"So you want me to get married?" Edward shook his head. Arguing with Vivian was annoying.

"Did you think you were going to live here with me your whole life? And please, don't start talking about Arthur," he said. Vivian was getting angry.

"Why are you interested in whether I marry or not?" she asked and walked to the window.

"I'm supposed to find a queen of my own, and you are not helping the matter," Edward said, fearing his sister's reaction.

"What do you mean?" Vivian asked. Edward sighed.

"I mean that you can sometimes be a little... tricky, and for some reason, you manage to banish everyone around you. As long as you are living here, no-one will want to come here," he said. Vivian's face turned pale, and she ran angrily from the room. _This is going to bring me some problems_, Edward thought.

xxx

Merlin sat on the stairway, waiting for Freya. Fortunately, Arthur had gotten mad at him after he had dropped a water pitcher on the bed - it didn't matter if it was an accident or not - and told Merlin to leave.

Someone sat on the steps next to him.

"Have you been sitting here for long?" Freya asked. Merlin shook his head. Freya could see that something was wrong.

"What's wrong with you?"

Merlin paused, before he answered:

"What happens when we leave for Camelot?"

"I do not understand. Should something happen then?" Freya answered. Merlin sighed.

"Are you going to stay here? Or do you come with us?" he asked. Freya didn't know what to say.

"I don't know. I can't get my powers back before Vivian is free from the enchantment," she said. Merlin looked at the girl seriously.

"In that case, you have to choose; will you stay here and wait until Vivian might be free someday, or will you come to Camelot with me?"


	5. Anger

**Love And Destiny  
**

**A/N:** Chapter 5 is finally here. This is the last chapter that my friend and I wrote together, the rest is written by me. Enjoy and review! :)

**Chapter 5: Anger**

Lady Vivian was very annoyed as she walked around the castle. Edward had gone over his limits. It was normal for siblings to fight, but this was too much. Edward had no right to talk to his sister in that way.

As she turned around the corner, Vivian walked into someone. She looked up and saw Sir Gwaine. Vivian was too angry right now to stay and argue with him. She walked past him and kept going. As she turned around the next corner, she heard Gwaine shouting after her:

"Are you not going to complain about how I managed to ruin your day?"

Vivian stopped, and as she turned around, she saw Gwaine standing in front of her.

"I could've done that, but unfortunately, my brother managed to ruin it before you," she said and walked away. Gwaine started to follow her.

"I wonder how he could have ruined your day?" he stated.

"He said that I'm tricky and that I banish all the people around me, which is why _he_ can't get married," Vivian complained.

"You are not tricky. And if you really banished everyone, I wouldn't be here either," Gwaine said. For a moment Vivian forgot to hate him and smiled carefully.

"Are my eyes lying or did you just smile?" he asked. Vivian opened the door to her chambers.

"Maybe I smiled, maybe I didn't," she said and closed the door behind her.

xxx

The next morning, Merlin tried to find Freya, but he couldn't. After lunch, he finally found her in the market, but she clearly was trying to avoid conversation. Finally, Merlin asked, "Why are you avoiding me?"

Freya stopped, and answered without looking at Merlin, "I am avoiding you because I don't want to choose." He couldn't understand what she meant. She noticed this and said, "Yesterday, you had asked me to choose between staying here and coming with you. And why did you even have to ask? It's really hard to choose, but..."

"Then why won't you come?" Merlin interrupted.

"I don't know. I want to come," Freya answered, "but it's like something is keeping me from leaving."

xxx

Lady Vivian was standing in front of her window. Arthur and Edward were talking outside. Vivian had a feeling that Arthur was avoiding her. She had tried to get some information about Camelot and Arthur's life, but without results.

Gwaine was just getting his horse ready for hunting when Lady Vivian stepped towards him.

"Lady Vivian?" asked surprised Gwaine. "Isn't this a surprise."

"Don't get too excited," Vivian said.

"May I ask what are you here for?"

"It's about Arthur," the princess continued. "When did he marry the servant girl?"

"Servant? I'm sorry, but nowadays she's the queen and Arthur's wife," Gwaine said. He even sounded a little offended.

"You didn't answer my question," Vivian pointed out.

"You didn't answer mine," Gwaine said, and winked.

Vivian took a step back. "You didn't ask anything."

"Let's make it clear. You want some information about Arthur, don't you?"

Vivian nodded and looked at Gwaine with suspicion.

"Let's make a trade, a compromise. Whatever you like to call it," Gwaine suggested. "I'll give you information about Arthur, if you..." He paused for a moment. "If you'll kiss me."

Vivian looked at the man with despise, said something and walked back to the castle.

_How can he do that!_ Vivian thought. Her face was all red. She was so angry that she didn't see her brother coming around the corner and walked into him.

"Look where you're going!" Vivian yelled. Edward looked confused as the princess stepped inside her chambers and slammed the door closed much more loudly than usual. Edward just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.


	6. Kiss

**Love And Destiny  
**

**A/N: **Thank you for everyone who alerted/marked as favourite. :) Only one chapter to go. What will happen? Read and find out.**  
**

**Chapter 6: Kiss**

Vivian was annoyed. Everything had gone wrong. She was glad that the guests would leave the next day, so that she wouldn't have to run into Sir Gwaine anymore. Too bad Edward wasn't going anywhere. _I wish there was a way to make Arthur notice me_, Vivian thought. She walked over to the mirror.

"Think. You only have two days left," she told herself as she looked at her reflection. Suddenly, she had an idea. With that plan, all of her troubles would be gone. Arthur would notice her, she would annoy Edward _and_ Sir Gwaine might finally leave her alone.

"You're as smart as you are beautiful," she said to herself.

xxx

Merlin was sitting on his bed with Freya.

"Sometimes I just hate my destiny. It's like I'm not allowed to have my own life. Everything is always just 'destiny this' and 'destiny that,'" he said. Freya looked into his eyes.

"At least your destiny makes sense. What do I have to do with Lady Vivian? And there's nothing I can do to help her with the enchantment," she sighed. She was obviously not very happy about Merlin leaving the next day.

"The worst thing is that I know I can't come with you. I don't know why, but I just _know_ I can't," she added.

"It's that stupid destiny again. It would be nice if it left us alone for at least one day," Merlin said.

"Maybe this will cheer you up," Freya smiled and gave him a quick kiss.

xxx

Vivian walked around her room. _How long can it take to kill some stupid animal?_ she thought. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said. The door opened and a young maid walked in. Vivian knew her name but couldn't remember it right now.

"What is it?" she asked as she walked to the other side of the room.

"I was just wondering if you need anything, my lady," the maid answered shyly. Vivian didn't really want to see anyone, so she answered:

"I'm fine. You can go."

"But your brother said…" the maid started, but Vivian cut her off.

"I don't care what my brother said. Now go!" The girl left the room quickly. Vivian sat on the corner of her bed and sighed. Now, she could only wait.

When the men came back from the forest, Vivian went outside. She hoped her plan would work.

The princess walked to Gwaine.

"Lady Vivian. Have you changed your mind?" he grinned, but Vivian didn't answer. She looked at her brother and Arthur, who were talking a little further away.

"I hope this makes you leave me alone," she said and pulled the man closer. She pressed her lips against his. Gwaine was so shocked about the kiss that he couldn't do anything.

Meanwhile, Arthur and Edward had noticed Vivian and Gwaine. Both of them were very surprised. All Arthur could say was:

"I don't know which one I should be sorry for."

Vivian pulled away from the kiss. Suddenly, she felt weird. It was like all the colours and sounds became a lot clearer.

"So do you still want the information about Arthur?" Gwaine asked, slightly dazed. Vivian needed a moment to realize what had happened.

"What? Arthur? No! What was I thinking? And _why_ did I even kiss _you_?" she asked herself, more so than the confused knight standing in front of her.


	7. Goodbye

**Love And Destiny  
**

**A/N:** Here it is, the last chapter! I hope you have enjoyed and it would be nice to get some reviews. By the way, I might even write a sequel. But anyways, enjoy! :)

**Chapter 7: Goodbye**

Vivian was sitting in her room, staring at the table. _How could I ever been interested in Arthur? _she thought. It felt like she had lost the last few years of her life. All of her memories were unclear.

Someone knocked on the door. Vivian didn't answer. The door opened and Edward walked in with an annoying grin on his face.

"What was that all about?" he asked. "Not that there's anything wrong with that kiss. It's good to see that you finally got over Arthur."

"I don't know what I was thinking. He is not even that attractive," she said angrily. Why was Edward always so irritating?

"And what about Sir Gwaine?" he asked with a self-satisfied smile.

"What about him?" the princess questioned. _Why can't he just leave?_

"Do you think he's attractive?" Edward asked.

"Just leave me alone," his sister said and turned away from him.

xxx

Merlin walked to Arthur's chambers. The king was standing next to the window.

"Merlin! Have you heard yet?" he asked as he noticed his manservant.

"Have I heard what?" the warlock questioned.

"Lady Vivian kissed Gwaine," Arthur said with a smug smile. Merlin couldn't believe what he had just heard. _This can't be good_, he thought. He was already going to leave the room when Arthur asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I just remembered something," the warlock said and left the room.

As soon as Merlin had left the room, he saw Freya a little further away.

"Freya!" he called. The girl turned around and smiled as she saw him.

"Did you hear what happened?" he asked.

"Do you mean Lady Vivian and Sir Gwaine?" Freya smiled. "I think the enchantment is gone."

Merlin could just stare at the girl. _But Gwaine can't be Vivian's true love_, he thought.

"What makes you think so?"

"This," Freya said and looked around. She muttered some words and a small flower appeared out of nowhere. "You're much better at this."

"So does this mean that you'll come with me to Camelot?" Merlin asked with a happy smile on his face. Everything was finally going right.

"What about Arthur? He must remember what I look like," Freya said seriously. Merlin had forgotten that Arthur was the one who had killed Freya.

"That was a long time ago. Besides, it was really dark and you look much better now," he said to her.

"Then I think I'll come. But I can't leave tomorrow. I need to organize some things first."

Both of them smiled. Everything was finally going right.

xxx

The next day, the guests were saying their goodbyes before heading back to Camelot.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Merlin asked, but Freya shook her head.

"You need to go. I can take care of myself. But Arthur needs you to take care of_ him_," she laughed. Merlin pulled her closer and kissed her. He didn't want to let go of her.

"This is not a goodbye," he reminded himself and Freya as he pulled away.

"You need to go," she whispered.

"I love you," Merlin said and walked away.

Meanwhile, Vivian was on top of the steps.

"It's good that you've forgotten Arthur," she heard a familiar voice behind her. This was the first time she didn't care about Gwaine's presence. "I hope we'll meet again."

She didn't answer. He walked down the steps and disappeared from her sight. _He doesn't actually look so bad_, she thought. _Maybe the destiny_ _will lead us together_.


End file.
